_Meeting of Free People of Colour_.
At a Meeting of a respectable portion of the Free People of Colour,
of the City of Richmond, on
Friday the 24th of January 1817, William Bowler was appointed
Chairman, Ephraim Speed, Moderator, and Lantey Crow, Secretary.
The following Preamble and Resolution was read, unanimously adopted, and
ordered to be printed:
Whereas a Society has been formed at the seat of Government, for
the purpose of "colonizing (with their own consent) the Free People
of Colour of the United States;" Therefore, we the Free People of
Colour of the city of Richmond, have thought it adviseable to
assemble together, under the sanction of authority, for the purpose
of making a public expression of our sentiments on a question in
which we are so deeply interested. We perfectly agree with the
Society, that it is not only proper, but would ultimately tend to
the benefit and advantage of a great portion of our suffering
fellow-creatures, to be colonized: but while we thus express our
entire approbation of a measure, laudable in its purposes and
beneficent in its designs, it may not be improper in us to say, we
prefer being colonized in the most remote corner of the land of our
nativity, to being exiled to a foreign country.[36]
And whereas the President and Board of Managers of the said
Society, have been pleased to leave it to the entire discretion of
Congress to provide a suitable place for carrying their laudable
intentions into effect;--Be it therefore resolved, That we
respectfully submit to the wisdom of Congress, whether it would not
be an act of charity to grant us a small portion of their
territory, either on the Missouri river, or any place that may seem
to them most conducive to the public good, and our future welfare:
subject, however, to such rules and regulations as the Government
of the United States may think proper to adopt.
W. BOWLER, Chairman.
_Ephraim Speed_, Moderator.
_Lantey Crow_, Secretary.
The following article from the New York Columbian, may, perhaps, throw a
little additional light on this subject:--
"NECESSITY OF A COLONY OF FREE BLACKS--SUPERSEDED.
We gave an abstract of the Constitution of Hayti some weeks ago;
and out of compassion, &c. we again publish the 44th clause, which
shows a land of promise nearer our doors than Sierra Leone.
"44. Every African, Indian, and their descendants, born in the
colonies of foreign countries, who shall come to reside in the
Republic, shall be recognized as Haytians, but shall not enjoy the
rights of citizenship until after a year's residence."
The same constitution that excludes the white man, invites the
black; and, gentlemen from Port au Prince have assured us, that
President Petion gives a marked welcome to the Free Blacks from the
United States who settle in Hayti."